Working collaboratively with the help of the Jain Society of Toronto (JSOT), the non-profit group Towards Ahimsa Inc. (based out of Toronto, Canada) co-hosted a special event last month to celebrate the health and wellbeing of a plant based diet.Through a series of interactive activities and thought-provoking discussions a group of 70 senior community members learnt first hand the philosophical definition of ahimsa in Jainism in its relationship to diet.

Presenters included medical doctors & professional educators who started by defining the nature of a Plant Based or Vegan diet. They presented medical evidence regarding benefits to vascular disease, cancers, diabetes, blood pressure, weight control, and overall benefits to quality-of-life and mortality. They also discussed ways to optimize the vegan diet and how to easily obtain nutrients like vitamin B12, calcium and iron, and protein.

The talk was extremely well received with great questions and enthusiasm on the part of the seniors. One attendee even claimed she would become vegan from this point forward!

The group was then divided into three equal parts. One of them went to make delicious smoothies, another went to a interactive cooking demo which demonstrated easy ways to substitute common dairy based products in your kitchen and the third group saw a short video about the dairy industry and discussed issues regarding compassion towards animals. All three groups rotated through every station and left full of information and tasty samples!

There was an overwhelmingly positive response from all who participated. The content was delivered in a positive and interactive manner in which all attendees could feel empowered to make health choices for themselves and their families.As a result of this inspiring event the JSOT Women’s group booked Towards Ahimsa Inc. for a similar session and interactive sessions have been organised for the temple’s youth group day camps.

Should your group be interested in reaching Towards Ahimsa Inc. for coordinating a similar workshop or further information on how to run a session, please email us at: info@towardsahimsa.com